(TAN): The tourism industry could suffer 100 million travel-related job losses because of the coronavirus pandemic, a research from the World Travel & Tourism Council has (WTTC) revealed.
The projected figure has gone up over 30% in the past four weeks – a month ago, WTTC had said COVID-19, that led to a massive slump in travel demand, could put up to 75 million jobs at immediate risk, resulting in a global GDP loss of up to USD 2.1 trillion in 2020.
The 100-million job losses could cost the world economy up to USD 2.7 trillion of GDP, the organisation representing the global travel and tourism private sector said.
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“This is a staggering and deeply worrying change in such a short time. In just the last month alone, our research shows an increase of 25 million in the number of job losses in Travel & Tourism. The whole cycle of tourism is being wiped out by the pandemic,” WTTC President and Chief Executive Officer, Gloria Guevara said.
The research showed Asia is at highest risk with a possibility of losing 63.4 million jobs in the sector translating to USD 1,041 billion in GDP loss. While Europe could lose 13 million jobs owing to COVID-19, Africa, the Americas and the Middle East could lose 7.6 million, 14 million and 2.6 million jobs, respectively.
“Travel & Tourism is the backbone of the global economy. Without it, global economies will struggle to recover in any meaningful way and hundreds of millions of people will suffer enormous financial and mental damage for years to come,” Guevara said.
Also, nearly 75 million of the 100.8 million jobs at risk are expected to be lost in the G20 countries, the WTTC said. The body has informed the G20 Tourism Ministers of the possible crisis.
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The G20 is an international forum for the governments and central bank governors from 19 countries and the European Union.
“We have alerted the G20 Tourism Ministers… to the extent of the crisis and advised on how governments need to step in swiftly to support and protect our sector,” Guevara added.
The travel industry, which contributes 10.3% of global GDP and accounts for a quarter of the world’s new jobs, has outperformed the pace of the global economy for nine consecutive years.
The WTTC launched a new social media campaign – #TogetherInTravel to motivate the global tourism sector during these grim times and inspire future travel.
